Dangerous Maneuvers Research Articles

Identifying Significant Predictors of Head-on Conflicts on Two-Lane Rural Roads Using Inductive Loop Detectors Data

Objective: To identify the significant factors that influence head-on conflicts resulting from dangerous overtaking maneuvers on 2-lane rural roads in Iran. Methods: A traffic conflict technique was applied to 12 two-lane rural roads in order to investigate the potential situations for accidents to occur and thus to identify the geometric and traffic factors affecting traffic conflicts. Traffic data were collected via the inductive loop detectors installed on these roads, and geometric characteristics were obtained through field observations. Two groups of data were then analyzed independently by Pearson's chi-square test to evaluate their relationship to traffic conflicts. The independent variables were percentage of time spent following (PTSF), percentage of heavy vehicles, directional distribution of traffic (DDT), mean speed, speed standard deviation, section type, road width, longitudinal slope, holiday or workday, and lighting condition. Results: It was indicated that increasing the PTSF, decreasing the percentage of heavy vehicles, increasing the mean speed (up to 75 km/h), increasing DDT in the range of 0 to 60 percent, and decreasing the standard deviation of speed significantly increased the occurrence of traffic conflicts. It was also revealed that traffic conflicts occur more frequently on curve sections and on workdays. The variables road width, slope, and lighting condition were found to have a minor effect on conflict occurrence. Conclusion: To reduce the number of head-on conflicts on the aforementioned roads, some remedial measures are suggested, such as not constructing long “No Passing” zones and constructing passing lanes where necessary; keeping road width at the standard value; constructing roads with horizontal curves and a high radius and using appropriate road markings and overtaking-forbidden signs where it is impossible to modify the radius; providing enough light and installing caution signs/devices on the roads; and intensifying police control and supervision on workdays, especially in peak hours.

Anger-congruent behaviour transfers across driving situations

Anger and aggression on the road may sometimes appear unprovoked and unrelated to current driving circumstances. It is unclear whether such anger and aggression arises because of events prior to those circumstances in which anger is experienced and aggression is exhibited. In this study, time pressure and enforced following of a slowly moving vehicle were used to increase drivers’ anger in order to assess whether affect and behaviour during a subsequent, non-provocative, drive would change accordingly. Ninety-six drivers drove twice in a simulated urban environment. During the first drive, oncoming traffic and a slowly moving lead vehicle required that half of the drivers travelled far slower than they would choose. During the second drive, drivers again followed slower vehicles and were required to respond to traffic events not encountered in the manipulation drive. Mood (Profile of Mood States) was assessed before and after each drive, and anger evaluations, arousal (heart rate) and behaviour (speed, lane position and collisions) were measured during drives. Anger increased and both mood and driving behaviour deteriorated in drivers exposed to slower lead vehicles, compared with control group drivers. These behavioural differences of speed and lane positioning carried over into the subsequent drive even to driving situations unlike those where provocation had previously occurred. Drivers who had previously been impeded later approached hazards with less caution, and attempted more dangerous overtaking manoeuvres. It is concluded that sometimes dangerous driving may result from anger provoked by circumstances other than those in which the behaviour is exhibited.

Perforation of the piriform sinus after sneezing with cervical subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum

Cervical subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum are often secondary to trauma, surgery or infection. More rarely, they can be spontaneous with no identified cause, but forced Valsalva manoeuvres are a known predisposing factor. Any forced effort with a closed glottis, such as sneezing, can cause rupture of the mucosa leading to the formation of cervical subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum. The authors report the case of a 30-year-old man with cervical subcutaneous emphysema complicated by pneumomediastinum due to fistula of the piriform sinus following sneezing while simultaneously obstructing both nostrils. Rupture of the mucosa of the piriform sinus is an extremely rare complication of this type of manoeuvre. This condition requires management in hospital due to the risk of infection with cervical cellulitis progressing to mediastinitis. Simultaneously obstructing both nostrils during sneezing is a dangerous manoeuvre that should be avoided.

Avoidance of overtaking accidents

This contribution describes the basic concept and practical evaluation of a driver assistance system, which early detects dangerous overtaking maneuvers on two-lane rural roads and helps to prevent accidents. The system was developed during the Proreta 2 research project by Technische Universitat Darmstadt in cooperation with Continental AG.

Vehicle detection and tracking for visual understanding of road environments

SUMMARYMany of the advanced driver assistance systems have the goal of perceiving the surroundings of a vehicle. One of them, adaptive cruise control, takes charge of searching for other vehicles in order to detect and track them with the aim of maintaining a safe distance and to avoid dangerous maneuvers. In the research described in this article, this task is accomplished using an on board camera. Depending on when the vehicles are detected the system analyzes movement or uses a vehicle geometrical model to perceive them. After, the detected vehicle is tracked and its behavior established. Optical flow is used for movement while the geometric model is associated with a likelihood function that includes information of the shape and symmetry of the vehicle and the shadow it casts. A genetic algorithm finds the optimum parameter values of this function for every image. As the algorithm receives information from a road detection module some geometric restrictions are applied. Additionally, a multiresolution approach is used to speed up the algorithm. Examples of real image sequences under different weather conditions are shown to validate the algorithm.

Sovereignty at Sea

In March 2009 the Chinese conducted bold and dangerous manoeuvres against the USNS Impeccable, a US Navy military survey vessel operating about 120 kilometres from the island of Hainan in the South...

Toward Autonomous Collision Avoidance by Steering

This paper presents a new automotive safety function called Emergency Lane Assist (ELA). ELA combines conventional lane guidance systems with a threat assessment module that tries to activate the lane guidance interventions according to the actual risk level of lane departure. The goal is to only prevent dangerous lane departure maneuvers. The ELA safety function is based on a statistical method that evaluates a list of safety concepts and tries to maximize the impact on accident statistics while minimizing development and hardware component costs. ELA runs in a demonstrator and successfully intervenes during lane changes that are likely to result in a collision and is also able to take control of the vehicle and return it to a safe position in the original lane. It has also been tested on 2000 km of roads in traffic without giving any false interventions

Characteristics of Helmet or Knit Cap Use in Head Injury of Snowboarders -Analysis of 1,190 Consecutive Patients-

The rate of head injury is 1.86-6 times higher for snowboarding than for skiing. Detailed data about the usefulness of a helmet or knit cap for protecting against serious head injuries have not been reported. The present study evaluated the use of a helmet or knit cap for preventing head injuries. Questionnaire data were collected from 1,190 consecutive patients in a hospital during the 1999/2000-2002/2003 winter seasons at Uonuma ski resort, Niigata, Japan. Patients were divided into the helmet, knit cap, and no cap groups. Upper technical level was highest and jumping as the cause of injury was most frequent in the helmet group. After adjustment for other confounders, there was a significant negative association between the occurrence of serious head injury during snowboarding and female sex (adjusted odds ratio 0.55, 95% confidence interval 0.421-0.718, p < 0.0001) and a significant positive association between serious head injury and jumping (adjusted odds ratio 2.25, 95% confidence interval 1.48-3.43, p = 0.0001). Among snowboarding maneuvers, only jumping showed a significant negative association between wearing of a helmet or knit cap and the occurrence of serious head injury (p = 0.036). Snowboarders who wear helmets might attempt dangerous maneuvers causing injuries. Wearing of a helmet or knit cap protected against serious head injuries on jumping. Every snowboarder should wear a helmet or knit cap on jumping to prevent head injury.

On-board cost effective event monitoring and recording system for enhanced road safety

A low-cost monitoring system using smart card technology associated with Bluetooth telemetry is designed and developed to act as an electronic logbook that interacts with its surrounding. The system encrypts the information on a smart card to avoid any external unwanted interference. The encryption permits continuous records for a period of 30 days and could accommodate the information collected from the on-board computer of the car as well as from the external sensors. In addition, an investigation on the capability of the system to record other information related to the driver's driving habits or dangerous manoeuvres has been carried out.

An improved technique for gaining radial artery access in endovascular interventions

We present a simple technique to avoid time loss and potential dangerous maneuvers for catheterization of the radial artery in endovascular interventions. If any difficulties are encountered when advancing the guide wire after the arterial puncture using standard transradial kits, we found it useful to routinely use a 60-mm polyethylene radial pressure line catheter like the Leader Cath (Vygon, Ecquen, France), which is more flexible and less traumatic than short catheters and are usually available in the standard hydrophilic transradial kit. With the 20-gauge needle within the arterial lumen, it is sufficient to advance the guide wire 3 or 4 cm, followed by the insertion of the radial pressure line catheter for administering a vasodilator cocktail. The contrast injection through the catheter is safer than through the needle, and visualization of the underling problems may avoid any time loss and complications. The standard sheath insertion is facilitated by the pressure line catheter that acts as a dilator. This technique, especially when performing coronary or peripheral interventions in which large introducers are needed, may avoid potentially dangerous vascular complications and improve the success rate.

Exclusion of the oesophagus: is this a dangerous manoeuvre?

If oesophagectomy is contra-indicated or dangerous, oesophageal bypass can restore the ability to swallow. It is not known if excluding the bypassed oesophagus by closing both ends will lead to serious complications. In this study we report on 89 patients who underwent bypass surgery for benign and malignant strictures of the oesophagus. The thoracic oesophagus was completely excluded in 51 patients and in 30 cases the bypass procedure was combined with distal oesophageal drainage. Gastro-oesophageal continuity was preserved in eight patients undergoing an extra-oesophageal colon bypass. The operative mortality was similar in the three groups. Neck abscesses, probably due to leakage from the upper end of the bypassed oesophagus, occurred in 17 per cent of patients with oesophageal exclusion and in 9 per cent of the remainder. Changes occurring in the bypassed oesophagus of 38 patients were monitored with computed axial tomography. Segmental, mucus-filled dilatations ( mucocoeles ) of the oesophagus were identified in 20 patients. In 19 patients these mucocoeles remained small and asymptomatic. One patient with achalasia developed an oesophago-airway fistula two years after operation. Provided both ends of the oesophagus are securely closed, oesophageal exclusion is not a dangerous manoeuvre in patients undergoing bypass surgery for locally invasive tumours or corrosive injuries of the oesophagus.

The Influence of Liquid Load Motion on Rollover Stability of Road Tankers

Rollover threshold is an essential factor in research into road tanker behavior since the accidents involving these vehicles frequently have fatal consequences, especially when their load is of a flammable or toxic nature.The following article presents a method of identifying the influence of liquid motion in a partially filled road tanker. The method is based on simulation using a mathematical model developed with the help of MSA (Multi-body System Analysis) software. This software enables the user to evaluate all the factors that influence rollover stability. Mechanical pendulum methodology has been used to simulate the liquid motion.The road tanker model was tested in compliance with the results obtained by measuring carried out on a SCANIA 124 L truck combined with a ZVVZ trailer. Simulation tests were carried out for the drive on a circular track and in a drive around a roundabout, which is considered the most dangerous manoeuvre in respect to vehicle rollover.

Mechanisms and prevention of windsurfing injuries

Aim of this study was to analyse the mechanisms of windsurfing injuries. For this purpose we performed a internet based survey among 327 windsurfers in Germany. Overall 630 accidents have been registered among all 327 athletes during the 2000 season. The majority of injuries were classified as minor injury. The most common injury was the bruise. 70 participants reported fractures, 26 participants ruptured a ligament. 280 injuries required medical treatment; in 67 cases even surgical treatment was necessary. The majority of accidents happened at wind power of 5-6 Beaufort after 2 hour exercise. A technical mistake was the most frequent cause for the accident. The most dangerous manoeuvres were difficult jumps (e. g. front loop, backward loop, 70 injuries). In 46 cases the weather conditions were underestimated. Only 10 windsurfers reported about broken material as cause for the injury. One half of the injuries happened in wave conditions. The analysis of injury mechanisms allows conclusions regarding injury prevention. A longer break after 60 minutes windsurfing might help to prevent injuries due to poor physical fitness. After one hour windsurfing without a break training of difficult manoeuvres should not be performed. The use of a helmet might prevent head injuries during training of difficult jumps. "Overpower situations" should be prevented by choosing the right board and sail size.

Speed-of-processing and driving simulator training result in improved driving performance.

Useful field of view, a measure of processing speed and spatial attention, can be improved with training. We evaluated the effects of this improvement on older adults' driving performance. Elderly adults participated in a speed-of-processing training program (N = 48), a traditional driver training program performed in a driving simulator (N = 22), or a low-risk reference group (N = 25). Before training, immediately after training or an equivalent time delay, and after an 18-month delay each participant was evaluated in a driving simulator and completed a 14-mile (22.5-km) open-road driving evaluation. Speed-of-processing training, but not simulator training, improved a specific measure of useful field of view (UFOV), transferred to some simulator measures, and resulted in fewer dangerous maneuvers during the driving evaluation. The simulator-trained group improved on two driving performance measures: turning into the correct lane and proper signal use. Similar effects were not observed in the speed-of-processing training or low-risk reference groups. The persistence of these effects over an 18-month test interval was also evaluated. Actual or potential applications of this research include driver assessment and/or training programs and cognitive intervention programs for older adults.

A taxonomy of aircraft ground handling modes

An essential part of the validation process of flight simulators has been the comparison of the simulator and aeroplane flight modes of motion for set manoeuvres. A simulator‐to‐flight match is essential for the full range of manoeuvres, both in‐flight and on‐the‐ground, if the simulator is to be used for all usual and unusual scenarios. This is particularly true in ground level manoeuvres where data are not available and pilots need to be trained for situations that are too dangerous to practise in real aircraft and too important to neglect. Aircraft in‐flight modes are used to verify simulator behaviour. However, ground‐contact – an important part of pilot training – modes are not used to verify fidelity. A full systems approach is discussed and a taxonomy of in‐flight and ground‐contact modes provided for the full range of operations, from brakes‐off through taxiing, take‐off, landing and parking. The full taxonomy of modes is needed to ensure that the dynamic behaviour of the simulator is realistic for all in‐flight and ground‐contact scenarios and thereby ensure that the training is realistic for the full range of conventional and dangerous manoeuvres.

Hiccups and Digital Rectal Massage

We read with great interest the excellent article by Loft and Ward entitled Hiccups: A Case Presentation and Etiologic Review, 1 and we mention a simple, and usually safe physical maneuver, it is digital rectal massage, for the treatment of intractable hiccups, which has not been mentioned by the authors. We 2 and others 3 have recently described two patients with intractable hiccups who failed to respond to several physical maneuvers and drug therapy. Then, digital rectal massage was performed, resulting in abrupt cessation of the hiccups. Subsequently, we performed this maneuver successfully in an additional five patients with intractable hiccups before performing other potentially dangerous maneuvers, like carotid sinus massage, Valsava maneuver, and ocular compression, and also before proceeding with pharmacologic agents. The rectum is supplied with sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves carrying both motor and sensory fibers. 4 Sensory innervation of the rectum occurs through parasympathetic fibers that are

The Second Stage of Labour: Durational Dilemmas

The optimal management of prolonged second stage of labour remains a confused area of thought and action. This confusion is particularly evident when epidural analgesia is also being used. A review of the literature indicates that prolonged duration of the second stage, i.e. from full dilation of the cervix until delivery, with or without epidural analgesia, has little adverse effect on perinatal outcome. More attention should be paid to the expulsive phase of the second stage and greater efforts made to reduce unnecessary interventions.

Particularly dangerous maneuvers in sports.

Particularly dangerous maneuvers in sports.

Freestyle Skiing: From 'Hotdogging' to Olympic Demonstration Event.

Once associated primarily with dangerous aerial maneuvers, freestyle skiing has undergone many changes in training, certification, and safety, and will be a demonstration event at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary.

Strain distribution during separation of the pterygomaxillary suture by osteotomes: Comparison between Obwegeser's osteotome and Swan's neck osteotome

In the Le Fort I type osteotomy, separation of the pterygomaxillary suture is a dangerous manoeuvre which must be carried out during the surgical procedure. To determine the osteotome best suited for safe separation of the pterygomaxillary suture, we measured the strain distribution over the surrounding bone structures during the osteotomy, employing two types of osteotomes. In both the Obwegeser osteotome group and swan's neck osteotome group, a large strain was measured at the medial pterygoid plate on the side of osteotome application. The intensity of the strain at the medial pterygoid plate was higher in the Obwegeser osteotome group than in the swan's neck group. With the Obwegeser osteotome which is routinely and commonly used in orthognathic surgery, safe separation of the suture cannot be accomplished unless the blade is correctly applied to the suture and superoposterior compression of the pterygoid process is avoided.